Ready. Chain. I'm sorry. Ready, Mission? Good. We're all set. Thank you. Yes. Good. Great. Thank you. Good evening. Welcome to the Mayor and Council regular session for March 26, 2025. This meeting is also being
conducted telephonically. The dial in number is 4254366365. Access code 213563. The meeting may also be viewed on the Ramsey YouTube channel. Please go to the burrow website to get to the YouTube channel. May I have the roll call, please? Mayor Dylan here.
Councilwoman Cusk here. Councilman Gutweather here. Councilman Kilman here. Councilman Pablo here. Councilwoman Poppy here. Councilwoman Woods here. Thank you. While the flag, I'll ask Mr. Canals to
lead us. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
The New Jersey Open Public Meetings Law was enacted to ensure the right of all citizens to have advanced notice of and to attend all meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting the public is discussed or acted upon. In accordance with the provisions of this act, notice of this meeting of the mayor
and council was published in the Burkin Record and the Suburban News on Wednesday, January 5th, 2025. Do we have approval of minutes? Yes, madam mayor. I make a motion to approve the minutes for March 12th, 2025.
Do we have a second? Madame Mayor, this is Councilwoman Cusk and I second. Thank you. Are there any comments or changes to the minutes? Okay. Not hearing any. Roll call, please. Councilwoman Cusk, yes. Councilman Gutwer, yes. Councilman
Kilman, I abstain. I was missing from that meeting. Councilman Popp, yes. Councilwoman Poppy, yes. Councilwoman Woods, yes. Thank you. Communications, please. Uh, thank you, Madame Mayor. Um, I would like to make a
motion to uh receive and file the communications as listed on the agenda for this evening. I'll second. Thank you. Any comments on the communications? Not hearing any. Roll call, please. Councilwoman Cusk, yes. Councilman Gutwer, yes. Councilman
Kilman, yes. Councilman Pablo, yes. Councilwoman Poppy, yes. Councilwoman Woods, yes. Thank you. This point and we'll open it the meeting to public comment. Anyone wishing to address the governing body, please give your names following the last name and
address. Please speak in an audible tone and address your comments to the chair. There will be a fivem minute time limit for speaker unless reduced because of the volume of business on the agenda. Please note public comment is your time and respect and fairness to all. There will be no interruptions or questions
answered during your time. No time shall be seated to anyone else and no time shall be saved for later use. Any responses may be given during the governing body's comments later in the meeting or is directed by the chair. The burough clerk is the official timekeeper.
public comment. You just ask a question about the budget or is that Well, we'll do the budget hearing. Um, actually, right after public comment, we're going to go out of order to do the budget hearing. Okay. We'll answer your questions then. Okay. Thank you. Right. Don't see anyone else
in the chambers going up to speak. Anyone on the line? Second call for public comment. Third and final call for public comment. Not hearing any, I will close public comment. Could I please have a motion to go out of order to do the hearing on the
municipal budget? Madame Mayor, can I make a motion to go out of order? Yes, please. Second. Second. Thank you. Uh, roll call, please. Councilwoman Cusk, yes. Councilman Gutwer, yes. Councilman Kilman, yes. Councilman Popp,
yes. Councilwoman Poppy, yes. Councilwoman Woods. Yes. Okay. Thank you. All right. Um let's get going on the public hearing on the 2025 budget as advertised and the public hearing and the original budget. So um at this point
I'm going to ask Mr. Boz, the bureau administrator, to give us some comments or highlights regarding the 2025 budget. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Uh just a quick thing on the timeline and the background of the budget. The budget presentation was done at the February 12th uh mayor
and council meeting. The budget was introduced at the February 26th meeting. A budget brochure, in addition to the budget being um posted on the burough's website, a budget brochure was mailed out to all residents in advance of the public hearing and the public hearing
and vote on adoption. The budget is tonight. The 2025 municipal budget continues to see escalating expenses across various essential services. The budget is focused on the delicate balance between minimizing the tax burden and investing in the bureau's vital services and aging infrastructure.
Our 2025 appropriation levels for salaries and operating expenses collectively are increasing by 2.04% from 2024 levels and make up about twothirds of the total budget. The budget is compliant with the state appropriation cap and is in fact a
million dollars under the state cap. The 2025 budget includes principal payown of debt of 2.22 million which is an increase of about a million dollars from 2024. Approximately 20% of the principal payown is from grants the burough sought out and received mitigating the cost to
residents. Ramsey's municipal debt level remains one of the lowest in the county and under 10% of what the state allows for a community of our size. The increase in debt payown will maintain the burough's strong lowle leverage financial position. Ramsey ranks in the lowest tier of municipal tax rates in
Bergen County with the 13th lowest of 70 municipalities for the municipal tax rate and the seventh lowest share of tax dollars going to municipal services for 2024 in the county. Both of these figures are more than 25% below countywide
averages. Uh as indicated earlier, inflation and certain operating expenses have impacted the budget. In addition, as noted, the more aggressive debt payown in 2025 will position us for the necessary upcoming investments in long-term infrastructure projects, which
will benefit the town for years to come. The combination of these items brings the 2025 budget to a collective municipal tax rate increase of 3.95%. The budget is compliant with the New Jersey state tax levy cap and is over 1 million below the state tax levy
cap. This budget meets the objective of adopting a responsible budget in today's inflationary economy while continuing to provide a high level of service to taxpayers and incorporating capital investment and increase debt payown for necessary projects with long-term
community benefits. Those will be my over. Thank you comments. Anyone else have any comments? Okay, we'll now open it up to public comments and questions. So, please up to the microphone. Okay. Please state your name and address
and spell your last name so Miss Bendy can make sure she has it for the record. Got it. Thank you. So, I'm Howard Shriber. S C H R E I B er 10 Baker Court. Right. Okay. So, thanks for everything you do. That's great. And but
one of the biggest line items on the budget is for uh police uh prosecutor courts 911. Um I'm sure you must have spoken to other towns like Mawa who's surrounds us
about uh shared uh services. And when I go by our police department here and I go by the MWA Police Department, I see all the cars sitting out in the parking lot and it just seems to me that if we were to combine our services, uh there's
a lot of efficiency to that. So has this been discussed? No, that has not been discussed combining police departments or fire departments. Well, f fire departments volunteer. Um, and that hasn't been discussed because they do render mutual
aid to each other. So, indeed, on the night of the Super Bowl, there was a house fire in town on Snyder and Ramsay was the first responders and we were aided by Allenale Ma. It is pretty standard though, I think,
isn't it? Right. Yep. mutually aid. But regarding the police, um, to me that just seems like a logical thing. Is there any reason why we wouldn't try to collaborate with neighboring towns? You mean combine the the two departments,
some form? Sure. That's something one dispatch for the two towns. We actually do our own dispatch. And there's a reason we do that. Um, we could go onto the county system. problem is if you go into the county system, you have to give up your FCC licenses. And if you're unhappy with their service, too bad
because you will never get your FCC licenses back, right? Um and we So we do our own dispatch, but we don't do 9 911. That's done separately. That's done out of Rididgewood, correct? At the county. That's at the county. We So we do 911
through the county, right? But local dispatches through us and some other towns are considering joining in our dispatch. So that'll help defay some of the costs. Right. Um do you think there might be
any merit towards some discussion with our neighboring towns in in collaboration in police forces to save money? Yeah, I'm not sure how much money it would save actually. Um, when you think about the staffing that
you need 247, how many patrols you need out at one time, um, because we have patrols 247 out on the road. So, I'm not sure combining those two police forces would actually really save us any money, but it's something that we can certainly
discuss, Mr. Bose and I, with Chief Lyman and as well as our counterparts up in MA. Right. I I think only benefit could come out of it. It doesn't mean that there has to be a collaboration, but it seems logical. And from where I
live, I see the Mawa Police Department going past our house. Yes. Because they use Shady Side as a cutthroat. Right. So, all of Ma uses Shady Side as a cutthrough. Right. The Board of Public Works, their police. Yes. Many of them.
Right. So, okay. Well, that's my comment and we will take it under advisement. Thank you. Good. Thank you. I'm Patricia Shriber spelled the same way. And I just had questions on two of the line items that I didn't know.
Grants offset by revenues. Well, and then capital improvements. What did we do last year? And then we like very much um cut that in 2025. Okay. Capital improvements um first off
that line. We increased it last year um to put some funds in place for when we do have a large capital project like we're talking about with the emergency services building. We'll have to make a down payment on that. So, we put that in capital improvement fund and that's been
reserved. That fund stays year after year. It's not if if you don't use it in that budget year, it goes away. Um and that's why that budget um was underspent last year and that's why the allocation to this year is low.
because we had I thought yeah I believe you I'm not sure I understand I thought it would go away if it's not used so when that line item goes into a capital improvement reserve okay so that will remain so that's why we did not use we did not use a lot of what we had set
aside last year so it remains so what we utilize we put less into the budget for capital improvement this year more into debt payown Okay. And then what are grants offset by revenues? Uh you'll see on the if you're looking
at the expense on the prior page, you see the same amount on the line item. So when we get grants, if they we will put them on the revenue side of the budget and then on the appropriations or expense side of the budget will be the
costs that are going to be paid by those grants. So there's no tax impact because we've received the revenue that's on one side of the budget and we're spending it on the other side of the budget. Okay. You get that?
Like if we get if we get a $100,000 to redo a road, right? We'll put on the revenue side $100,000 that we got from the state and on the appropriations or the spending side, we put that $100,000 where we're going to expense it. So it's we've received the revenue from
somewhere else, we're spending it. So there's no tax impact essentially, but it does increase the budget by that amount. And the reason why it has to be in the budget, it's a legal requirement so that the governing body can authorize the employees of the bureau to spend the
money. So it's called it's an authorization to spend the grant. So the grant money comes in, but Bruce and his staff have no authority to spend that money unless the mayor and council authorize it. And the way they authorize it is through the
budget. So that's the appropriation side. Okay. So we have last year we had 741,000 that we got grants on and this year then we have 90,000. You get LA last year's at this time was
lower as well because you get them along as the year goes on. Like last year we got a $575,000 grant in October. So when we adopted the budget last year, the number was much lower. This is the actual number we ended up at year end of last
year. So if we get grants this year, we'll make an amendment to the budget and put those grants into. Okay. So the 90,000 could be bigger. You're saying it probably will not. I mean the 700 was um a very high year because as I said we
got one federal grant for for a large amount. What was that for? That was for firefighter equipment who uh so it's going for all of our um fire department rescue squad uh air packs and to
replace. That's great. Okay. Thanks. Thank you. Can I ask does it does it always have to offset? So if you get $100,000 grant uh maybe cost 125,000 is right. We we
then would supplement it through borrow funds. Yes. But that's all. Yeah. But but right but these two lines will always stay the same and then there will be money allocated from other appropriation lines. And then you say if you get a uh a grant during the the
fiscal year, you'll have an amendment to the budget. Yeah. Any other questions on the budget or any comments on the budget? Not hearing any from the council chambers. Is there anyone on the phone who has any questions or comments on the municipal
budget? Second call. Third and final call. And just let you know that was Mr. Gabberini speaking. He um is a CPA and he audits the burrow. So, okay. All right. So, I think at this
point in time I can close the public hearing on the budget. No, at this Okay. Now, I I'm going to ask Councilman Gutwer to introduce the 2025 budget amendment resolution. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Uh this is a
resolution to amend the budget. Whereas the local municipal budget for the year 2025 was approved on the 26th day of February 2025. Whereas the public hearing on set budget was held as advertised and whereas it is desired to amend said approved budget now. Therefore, it is resolved by the mayor
and council of Burough Ramsey and county of Bergen. The following amendments of approved budget of 2025 be made in the current fund under general appropriations. uh operations within caps for the insurance employee group
health $2,397,200 for total operations including contingent within caps 21,42,500 total general appropriations municipal purposes within caps 24,166,500 for operations excluded from
caps employee group group group health insurance out of caps $110,800. Total other operations excluded from caps1 $1,943,788.76. Total operations excluded from caps 2,34,52569. Total general appropriations
for municipal purposes excluded from caps 5,211,446.68. Subtotal for general appropriations 29,377,946.668 total general appropriations 30,377,9468. It be further resolved that two certified copies of this resolution be filed for with in the office of the
director of local government services for the certification of the municipal budget so amended. The hearing on the budget amendment will be held at the municipal building on March 26, 2025 at 7:00 p.m. at which time and place Objection to set budget amendment may be presented by taxpayers or other
interested persons. It is hereby certified. It is a true copy of a resolution amending the budget adopted by the the governing body on the 26th day of March 2025. I'll second. Thank you. I'll now open the uh public hearing on the 2025 budget
amendment. Real quick, any comments from council members or Mr. Gabberini? Mr. Jose, I'll just comment that this bud this budget amendment does not change the taxes due the total level of the budget. Um, one of the appropriation
lines for health insurance has a component that is inside and outside of the appropriation caps together. They're the total health insurance that you see in the budget brochure. $60,944 is moving from the out of cap to
the incap. So it's net still the same amount we're spending for health insurance and everything else. It's just where it is allocated in the in the budget on which section of the budget it is in. So again there's no changes in total cost of the budget taxes or
anything like that or change to any one particular line item just where it's located in the budget section. Thank you. Okay. Anyone from the public wishing to comment on the 2025 budget amendment?
Not seeing anyone. Council chambers, is there anyone on the line that would like to comment on the 2025 budget amendment? Second call. Third call for comments on the 2025 budget amendment. Not hearing any, I will close
the public hearing. Um, can we please have a roll call to vote on the budget amendment resolution? Councilwoman Cusk, yes. Councilman Gutwer, yes. Councilman Kilman, yes. Councilman Papo,
yes. Councilwoman Poppy, yes. Councilwoman Woods, yes. Thank you. Councilman Gutwarter, can you please introduce the 2025 budget resolution as amended? Thank you, Madam Mayor. At the 2025 municipal budget of the Burough of
Ramsey, County of Burden for the year 2025. Be it resolved that following statements of revenue and appropriations shall constitute the adopted municipal budget for the year 2025. The current fund general appropriations appropriations within caps municipal
purposes 24,166,500. Appropriations excluded from caps municipal purposes 5,211,4468. Reserve for uncollected taxes $1 million. Total general appropriations 30,377,9468. Less anticipated revenues
7,522,278. Amount to be raised by taxes for support of municipal budget. Local tax municipal purposes $21,212,15012. Minimum library tax 1,643,588.76. Total to be raised by taxes 22,855,7388 for the water/sour utility
fund appropriations and utility revenues are $9,25,000. The swimming pool utility fund appropriations and utility revenues $980,000. I'll second. Thank you. Can we have a
roll call, please? Councilwoman Cusk, yes. Councilman Gutwer, yes. Councilman Kilman, yes. Councilman Pablo, yes. Councilwoman Poppy, yes. Councilwoman Woods, yes. Thank you. Can we please have a motion to go back into
order? Madame Mayor, can we make motion to go back into Oh, excuse me. U before I leave, um I just want you all to know that I've been doing this for 35 years. I've worked in every municipality in the county of Bergen and about 80% of Hudson
County. I've been on hundreds of ratings calls. Uh Ramsay had a bond rating this year with Moody's and nobody has represented the burrow or township or city better than Puce did uh this year.
Um he does an amazing job. I know you all know that. But uh you know I appreciate it. Makes my job easier. And um you know we we had a very successful uh note issuance because of the rating.
So it has helped. Cost a little money to do it but we're going to make it on the back end and save about a percent in interest. But I just like to thank Bruce for his hard work and uh um you should all be very fortunate to have him here. I hope I'm not embarrassing you, but I
asked his permission. Very kind of you, Mr. Dabberini. And we truly do appreciate Mr. Bose. Okay. Thanks for coming. Have a good night. We have a motion go back into regular order. Uh, Madame Mayor, can I make a motion to go back into regular
order, please? Can I have a second? Second. Okay. Um, all in favor of going back into regular order? I. Great. Wonderful. Okay. Now, we were supposed to have a hearing on the adoption of ordinance 04 2025. That's now being
tabled for or adjourned until April 9th, 2025. So, let's move on to ordinance '05, 2025. That's you again. Okay. Uh, this is the final ordinance number
05 2025. Uh this is an ordinance to authorize capital improvements for the purpose of 2025 road resurfing resurfacing program and acquisition of vehicle for the office of emergency management in the burough of Ramsey Burton County, New Jersey and to appropriate the sum of
$275,000 pay the cost thereof having been brought up for public hearing and all persons interested having been given an opportunity to be heard as final reading by title and that said ordinance be adopted as an ordinance of the Burough of Ramsey's and be it further resolved that the burough clerk D and chief
and she hereby is directed to cause a copy of the title of said ordinance to be published in an official newspaper of the bureau in a manner provided by law together with the notice of the date of introduction and adoption of said ordinance. I'll second. Thank you. I'll open this up for public
comment. Is there anyone um would would like to comment on ordinance 052025. Not seeing anyone in council chambers. Is there anyone on the line that would like to comment on ordinance '052025? Not hearing any. I'll close public
comment. Roll call, please. Councilwoman Cusk, yes. Councilman Gutwer, yes. Councilman Kilman, yes. Councilman Papo, yes. Councilwoman Poppy, yes. Councilwoman Woods, yes. Thank you.
We'll now move on to ordinance 062025. Thank you, Madame Mayor. Final ordinance number 062025, an ordinance amending chapter 3 of the code of the burrow of Ramsey, County of Bergen, state of New Jersey, so as to establish section 3-33 entitled distribution of
unsolicited advertising circulars and newspapers having been brought up for public hearing and all persons interested have been given an opportunity to be heard. pass final reading by title and that said ordinance be adopted as an ordinance of the Burrow of Ramsey. And be it further resolved that the burough clerk be and she hereby
is is directed to cause a copy of the title of said ordinance to be published in an official newspaper of the burrow in the manner provided by law together with a notice of the date of introduction and adoption of said ordinance. Do we have a second? Madame Mayor, this
is Councilwoman Cusk. I second. Thank you. Anyone wish to comment on this ordinance? Very thankful to not have trash at the end of the driveway. So, okay, that's one way to look at it. Um,
so, all right. So, basically, if the in we're going to require unsolicited material to contain contact information so resident could provide notice for any future delivery to be cancelled and there's also penalties for violations. So hopefully this will prevent unwanted
newspapers and other circulars from throwing showing up on residents driveways. Thank you. Okay, we'll open this up for public comment. Is there anyone in the public that would like to comment on ordinance 062025? Not seeing anyone in chambers
well would like to comment. We'll open it up to comments on the line. Is there anyone on the telephone line who would like to comment on ordinance 062025? Second call for comments. Third and final call for comments. Not hearing any, we will um close the public
hearing. Can we please have a roll call? Councilwoman Cusk, yes. Councilman Gutwer, yes. Councilman Kilman, yes. Councilman Papo, yes. Councilwoman Poppy, yes. Councilwoman Woods, yes. Thank you. All right. I have no appointments for this
evening. Let's move on to consent resolutions. Councilman Gutwarter, you are up once again. Thank you, Madam Mayor. It resolves that resolution 069 2025 through and including 073 2025 having been considered by the governing body of the B of Ramsey D and are hereby
passed and approved. Special permit request tonight. The Ramsey BFW 12148 has requested permission to hold their annual Poppy fundraiser from May 1st through June 30th in front of various Ramsey businesses as well as the Ramsey Farmers Market and these are with the
permission from the owners and there are no block party requests this evening. I'll second. Thank you. Any comments on the resolutions? I just want to um note that Marian Lup is going to serve as administrative assistant to the design review board
because deputy bureau clerk Sylvester stepped down. And I think this will be great because it will increase the communications amongst the design review board, planning board, and zoning board of adjustment. Okay. Roll call, please. Councilwoman Cusk, yes. Councilman
Gutwer, yes. Councilman Kilman, yes. Councilman Papo, yes. Councilwoman Poppy, yes. Councilwoman Woods, yes. Thank you. Okay. Committee and Lee is on report. So once again, Councilman Belwinner, you are up.
Okay, for my report for this evening, uh for the library board, the library uh just recently completed a minor renovation of the meeting room space, which uh that space gets a lot of heavy use due the five or 600 events that are held there annually. The Friends of the Ramsey Library used
book and jewelry sale will run from Thursday, April 3rd through Sunday, April 6th, uh with a special preview sale day for Ramsey residents on April 2nd. Donations of books and jewelry are accepted for March 29th to April 2nd. A new digital content format called Comics
Plus is being offered provides digital comics and manga, and a homebound delivery service is up and running for those individuals who don't have access to the library. The rec commission sports will begin in early April as well as volleyball. Um the Easter egg hunt in
partnership with the Ramsey Fire Department will be held on April Saturday, April 12th in the morning. Hopefully there's more information to follow or consult the Ramsey Rec website for information and one of the representatives of the men's over
45 meeting and we'll be spreading the word about softball opportunities for adult men. Ramsey Farmers Market is open from 10:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. and this schedule will continue through April. Uh there are still upwards of 50 dedicated farmers and Cooper Bayers each and every
Sunday. Uh celebrate spring with Holly Festival of Colors will be held on Sunday, March 30th from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Uh the second chance to collection sponsored by the Ramsey Environmental Commission will be held on April 6th. and the EV car show sponsored
by the Environment Commission will be held on April 27th this evening. Thank you. Public safety Councilman Kilman. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Um, currently uh for my public
safety comments this evening, currently the Ramsey Emergency Services Complex project has been undergoing further review and assessment. The challenge given to those design professionals involved is to accommodate both the present and future needs of the Ramsey
Volunteer Fire Department, Rescue Squad, and the Office of Emergency Management, as well as to stay within the feasible budget parameters initially estimated regardless, excuse me, regardless of the current rise in inflation and
construction costs. The building committee working group, including select bureau officials, will also complete its review of the updated proposed project modifications, and when rei revised to its satisfaction, they'll be presented
to the full mayor and council and the public. Once the proposed plan and bid package is complete, it will need to be submitted to the state office of controller for review prior to going out to bid. Those are my comments. Thank
you. Building planning and zoning. Councilwoman Woods. Thank you, Madame Mayor. Um, first of all, I'd like to start with congratulations to Charles Greenwald on successfully completing all requirements for the rank of Eagle Scout. It's fabulous. And thank you and
congratulations to Marian Lupo for taking on the design review design review board secretary position. She will be an awesome um person for that role because of her planning board information that she has. And many thanks to Kelly Sylvester for her years
of service in that role. I think it was six or seven years she did that. She was fantastic. Um the design review board met last night and they had three applications for one was for the little kitchen on 17 South Audio Novo at Interstate and uh the Goddard School on
Hilltop. The next design review board meeting is Tuesday, April 22nd. Uh the seniors uh senior trustees met on March 13th. Um the window coverings for the senior center have been installed and they're amazing. They look wonderful. Uh the seniors will be filling plastic eggs Thursday, April
10th at 12:30 p.m. if you want to help. Um they are excited to participate in the Sam Wright cleanup day on Saturday, April 5th. And um they discussed resuming trips at their last meeting. Some of the members would like to resume trips into the city. The committee will
investigate and report back at the next meeting and the next meeting will be Thursday, April 10th. The zoning board meeting on March 19th was held but did not hear any applications. The next meeting will be April 16th. Thank you, Madame Mayor. Thank you. Utilities, buildings, and grounds. Councilwoman
Cusk. Madame Mayor, this is Councilwoman Cusk's report. I thank our Ramsey firefighters for their service and dedication. I was thrilled to attend the Ramsey Firefighter Department's dinner on March 14th. I am grateful to you all for your unwavering commitment and
bravery in serving our community. Your efforts make our community a better place and your generosity does not go unnoticed. My report tonight, Madame Mayor, will be an update regarding our planning board, Shade Tree Commission, and Board of Public Works. The Ramsey
Planning Board. At the 18th of March 25 planning board meeting, there were two waiver applications which were approved. I also provided during this meeting a brief summary to the planning board regarding ordinance 04-2025 and the ordinance is being recommended to the mayor and council
from the planning board. Uh I abstain from the vote. Uh in addition, there was a public hearing for the continuation of 663 East Crescent Plaza LLC. This hearing is being carried again to the 15th of April. In addition to the two waivers heard earlier in the planning
board meeting, there are three businesses that occupy the space and 663 East Crescent Avenue. These three waivers waiver applications were heard and were approved conditionally subject to the approval of the application for
663 Crescent Plaza LLC. The Ramsey Board of Education high school presentation resolution was approved and the next planning board meeting is scheduled for the 15th of April. The meeting on April 1st has been cancelled. That is not an
April fool's prank. It's canled for the Shade Tree Commission. It met on the 20th of March. The next meeting is scheduled for 17th, April 25. This year there will be over 40 new trees planted in our burrow. Our shade tree commission also has a wonderful submission for the
Ramsey journal spring edition for the board of public works. It last met on the 17th of March 2025. The next meeting is April 21st. Purr and poly florinated substances. PAS are a group of chemicals used to make fluuropolymer coatings and
products that resist heat, oil, stains, grease, and water. There are US EPA POS water quality limits which impact our water supply. H2M our architectural and engineering firm is working with the Ramsey Water Department regarding
treatment approaches at our well treatment facilities at Arrow Road and at Darlington, Brookfield, North Central, and Spring Street. The lead service line replacement project continues. The Board of Public Works is planning and
implementing regarding the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protections lead service line replacement legislation. This project requires that all lead service lines served by the water system be replaced by the year 2031. For the water accountability act,
the report is due in March. This month, H2M, our consultant, is working to complete it. And I just want to make a few comments about our martyrs well. Um, our martyrs well was running today. Um, and it was running today for water quality samples, but this well does not
run often during our winter months. I want to note that Violia is a firm that also provides our burrow with water supply and they provide the water in
higher levels of chlorinated um supply. So um their supplements to our water quality supply are um necessary for our supply and violia
chlorinates uh within the boundaries but they they do provide a a higher level of chlorination for our water. Madame Mayor that's my report for tonight. Thank you. Thank you very much. public and government relations. Councilwoman Poppy. Thank you, Madame
Mayor. The pool commission last met on March 19th. Uh registration for the pool will begin in valid. Wow. It always happens every time. No, last meeting it did. Yeah, I think it did. Okay, let's
try again. One meeting. Okay. There will be no increase to pool rates over uh 2024 for our residents. Registration starts April 1st. Early bird res registration is $500 um for the first
two individuals and 100 for each additional um in one household. Um they have tightened up some of the rules on the uh registrations and they will be requiring um residents to bring proof of residency
this year. Uh also swim team and group lessons will be a part of the early registration and early registration will conclude around um May 1st. Um the Ramsey Municipal Alliance met on March
24th. Um they spoke mainly about the um mental health awareness month and the stigmafree walk and talkathon on May 3rd from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at Ramsey High School. Um so I hope people will
come out and support them. They do have a lot of programming for the month of May within the schools and outside of the schools um for mental health awareness. Um, the next stigmafree meeting will be at 8 PM on April 8th. It will be in the community center. Um, and
the Ramsey Municipal Alliance will meet um on April 28th. And that concludes my report for this evening. Thank you. Thank you. Health health education social
services Councilman Popp who's joining us by telephone. Thank you, Madam Mayor. I'll start off with remedies for everyone. Just a slight break for rights of activities. Bill softball begins in mid late April
for the environmental committee uh with a meeting on March 11th and Councilwoman Woods and Councilman Gutwater highlighted the two major activities which is April 5th Randy Cleanup Day start and then EV car show on April
from 9 to1 at Mechanic Street parking lot. And for board event, I just wanted to highlight that our very young Casey Kelly has won the teacher of the year award for Smith School. So, just wanted to let everybody know that. That's all I have to Okay, thank you so much. All
right, for my comments, let's see. I want to thank everyone who worked on the burough budget. It's I'm always amazed that we get this thing introduced in February and passed in March because I remember years and years ago people were still working on it in July. So I'm so
happy about that and a lot of that credit has to go to Burough Administrator Jose. So thank you very much Mr. Ros for all your work, Councilman, everybody who got their numbers in. Okay, so thank you all for that. It
is truly appreciated and as Mr. Ros reported earlier, the burrow was in very good shape financially. Um, which not everybody can say that or not every town can. Um, regarding the community meeting room at the library, I visited over the
weekend and it's amazing what a fresh coat of paint and new flooring can do for a room. The room looks spectacular. And they also installed the new water fountain and water bottle filling station. So that's in the back entrance
hall as well. So hopefully that'll get a lot of use. And as Councilwoman Cusack mentioned, thank you to the Ramsey Fire Department for inviting us to the recognition dinner. Um it's always a pleasure to be together with them and to recognize their achievements. And there are some members
who have over 50 years of service. It's really amazing to me um that they stick with it. And there's families where you have generation after generation after generations such as the Lannings and the um Mike Scallion, those landing scallion
families. So really is amazing to me. Um Barry mentioned that. So one thing I want to talk about very quickly, but then um I'm sure Mr. Ros will go into a lot more detail. Um, I know you hear us talk about fair share housing and
affordable housing. On, let's see, on March 17th, the bureau participated um in the affordable housing dispute resolution program. So, there was a mediator, another planner there, fair share housing center. Um the building
New Jersey builders association declined to participate which was fine but we were able to reach an agreement with the fair share housing center and I'm very happy to say we can comply with that agreement. We will we've always met our requirements on first second and third
round for the fair affordable housing. I know we will meet it on the fourth and the fifth round, no doubt. And one of the best things about entering into a mediation agreement with Fairshare Housing Center is that the burrow is now insulated from developer remedies
lawsuits because you always run the risk and those lawsuits can be extremely expensive and if you lose, you really put the burrow at risk of ruining its character from overdevelopment. So, I'm very happy that we're able to reach an agreement with with Fair Share Housing
Center to protect the burrow's character. And that's all I have for administrator. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Um, first off, just to follow up on the budget, thank you all for your kind comments. I It is truly a work of a
lot of people. I would thank all of my department heads and what starts there with them preparing their budgets and then we kind of accumulate them myself and CFO Balada. So between Denise and I uh then we bring it to the finance
committee who does all the leg work on their end and the support and then the support of the whole governing body. So it's truly a team and then Mr. Garberini and his team, especially Maria in his office is outstanding and they really are very supportive uh and do a great
job in getting the process done. And to the mayor's point, by being early in the process, it makes it a lot easier through both state review and getting the attention of these auditors and different things as everybody's trying to handle multiple towns. So, for us
being on the early side, it makes it a little easier and gets things streamlined and through. So, Thank everyone for their help with that. Couple resolutions that I will comment that were on the agenda tonight. Uh resolution 71 is awarding a contract for
entertainment for the Independence Day celebration. Celebration this year scheduled for Thursday, July 3rd with a rain date of Sunday, July 6. Cliff Baron Productions is providing two bands, Stereo Junkies and Arena, Relive the Rock, to perform at the event that evening. And we did a resolution
awarding contract to cliffhanger for these services for the bands. Uh resolution 72, the mayor just talked about this uh authorized the commitment to the fourth round president and perspective need for the burough's affordable housing obligations as
modified in accordance with the settlement agreement with fair share of housing centers. This resolution brings the bureau in continued compliance with the fourth round of affordable housing obligations adopted into law in 2024. Some updated
summary bullet points on this fourth round affordable housing legislation and where ransom currently is at. As the mayor mentioned, we've met all of our affordable housings for every round prior, including the third round uh which ends on July 1st of 2025. In 2024,
the New Jersey legislature amended the Fair Share Housing Act and Governor Norphy signed it into law in March of 2024, setting the new requirements and procedures to dictate the process for this fourth round coming up of affordable housing. DCA issued a report
to all municipalities with an estimate of their fourth round obligations for each municipality under the standards in the amended new act in October of last year. For Ramsey, this report calculated the burrow's fourth round present need of rehabilitation at 51 and the
prospective new construction need at 53 units. In January, after reviewing the DCA's estimated obligations, Ramsey adopted resolution 39 of 2025, determining its fourth round present rehabilitation and prospective needs that it felt it need. The resolution
determined the present need to be 51 and the prospective need to be 351. The law enabled interested parties to file a challenge to a municipality's number prior to February 28th of 2025. Fair Share Housing and the New Jersey
Builders Association did file challenges to the burough's new perspective need number as well as those of hundreds of other municipalities. Well, the New Jersey Builders Association uh stated the Ramsay's perspective need
should be 503 instead of 301 or 351 rather and fair share housing stating it should be 520. Pursuant to the law with these objections, the parties were to enter into good faith negotiations regarding settlement agreement on the burough's
fourth round number. The builders association indicated they would not be participating in those conferences and would also not object to any settlement reached between the burrow and fairshare housing. As the mayor mentioned on March 17th, we held that settlement with fair
share housing in the burrow was reached. And this resolution amends the burough's fourth round prospective meeting to 450 and authorizes the burrow to enter into a settlement settlement agreement with fair share housing. The burough will continue its
work to satisfy and address its fourth round affordable housing obligations as it has with all previous rounds. This includes to continue to review and discuss draft ordinances, resolutions, and other relevant documents associated with the burough's housing element and
fair share plan in advance of filing of the fourth round which commences on July 1st of 2025. Um, we do have one ordinance uh for introduction tonight. Uh, this is an ordinance to establish liability
insurance and annual registration requirements for businesses and owners of rental units. State adopted into law S1368, which requires all owners of multif family rental units to maintain certain minimum levels of liability insurance. In addition, they're required
to annually register that certificate of insurance with the municipality. This ordinance codifies the state insurance requirements and establishes the burrow's administrative fee and penalty for non-compliance. That would conclude my report. Thank you. Oh, thank you.
Appreciate that. Burough attorney. Nothing. Thank you, madam. Thank you, Burough Clerk. I have nothing. Thank you. Thank you. Then we will move on to the introduction of ordinance 072025 that Mr. Jose just discussed.
Thank you, Madam Mayor. Um, I'd like to introduce ordinance 072025. Be it resolved that an ordinance entitled an ordinance amending chapter 4 of the code of the bureau of Rancy, Bergen County, New Jersey, so as to establish section 4-9 thereof entitled
liability insurance and annual registration requirements for businesses and owners of rental of the of a rental unit or units. pass the first reading by title and that said ordinance be further considered for final passage and adoption at a regular meeting of the
mayor and council to be held on the 9th day of April 2025 at 7 p.m. prevailing time or as soon after as the matter can be reached. The municipal building in said burrow. And be it further resolved that the burough clerk be and she is
hereby instructed to publish in an official newspaper of the bureau in the manner provided by a law copy of said ordinance together with the notice of introduction thereof and notice when the same will be considered for final passage and adoption.
Thank you. Do we have a second? Yes, madame mayor. I second. Okay. Okay. Do we have any comments in addition to um what Mr. Rose said earlier? Okay. Can a roll call, please. Councilwoman Cusk, yes.
Councilman Gutwer, yes. Councilman Kilman, yes. Councilman Pablo, yes. Councilwoman Poppy, yes. Councilwoman Woods, yes. Okay. Thank you. It passes. The first reading does,
right? We don't have any unfinished business. No new. We've already taken care of the unfinished business. Excuse me. That leaves me in this full budget hearing. We don't have any new business. So, do I have a motion to adjurnn? Motion to adjurnn. Second. Second. Thank you. All in favor? I. I.
All right. Well done. Have a good night, everybody. Thank you.